Grow A Ton Of Food In A Vertical Garden

See what I am planting this fall in my vertical Green Stalk planter!

You would be completely surprised how you can grow a TON of food in a vertical garden. In this post I am going to talk about what I am planting in my Green Stalk however you can create vertical gardens using tons of other methods which I will link a little later.

Let’s talk about the fall garden and why you want to plant one! When the cooler months come, some crops do amazingly well which means you can still grow food for your family. Summer’s bounty is amazing with juicy tomatoes and zucchini galore but don’t be tempted to stop there.

This year as I pulled my spent tomatoes, peppers and flowers from my Green Stalk, I started to plan what cool weather crops I could. There is plenty of time to plant for fresh eating all fall and into early winter in the growing zone I am in.

Before you make any plans make sure you know what growing zone you live in. A simple google search for growing zone plus your zip code will give you that important piece of information. Make note of your projected first frost date. My first frost date is the beginning of November.

Cool Weather Crop List

Once you know what growing zone you live in you can start your list of crops that can grow in your zone. I am in zone 7B in North Carolina. Here is the list of what I am growing this fall in my Green Stalk Planter (check out these amazing vertical planters here and get $10 off!)

• Rainbow Swiss Chard
• Orange Swiss Chard
• Little Gem Lettuce
• Merlot Lettuce
• Pak Choy
• Salad Bowl Mix
• Lemon Basil
• Parsley
• Cilantro
• Dill
• Oregano

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Seeds or Plant Starts?

This season I planted from seeds but you can also head out to your local nursery and grab some started plants if you’d like. Before you start planting let’s chat about soil. Since I grew in my planter this summer I wanted to add some nutrients back into the soil. I topped it off with some potting mix that had compost in it. I added some worm castings as well (here is a good option or you can search Amazon).

If this is a brand new planter you will need to fill it with good organic potting mix. Look for a brand that has added compost. There is a cost to fill it initially but once you have done that, you can add amendments each year to have a super healthy soil for years to come!

As you can see in the above photo, I was able to grow a TON of food and flowers this summer in my Greenstalk vertical garden planter which takes up almost no space. This is a great way to start your journey towards food independence! I talk a little about food independence here. If that is a new concept to you don’t worry! We will learn together. You can start to gain food independence by starting small so don’t stress about it.

I use the Greenstalk but there are lots of different ways to grow a vertical garden. Since I am not super handy, DIY isn’t always economical for me but you do you! Here is a good place to get some ideas about other ways to vertical garden.